Corners
by PerpetualSnare
Summary: When a tough case gets Amanda down, Nick takes a cue from Munch in an attempt to make things better for her - Rollins/Amaro pairing - COMPLETE


Nick Amaro's eyes opened slowly. When he turned his head to look at the time he saw that Amanda was not in bed. It was 5:57 in the morning. _Of course_ it was. Nick's internal clock always seemed to wake him up around six whether he had to get up or not. Amanda sometimes went out on early morning runs, but Nick hadn't heard the front door open. He wasn't _that_ heavy of a sleeper.

"Amanda," he called out softy.

"Out here," a faint female voice answered from the living room.

"Can't sleep?" Nick asked.

"Nope."

Nick didn't like the sound of Amanda's voice. It sounded ragged, as if she had been crying. He found his bare feet hitting wooden floor. The air in the room was cold. Nick didn't keep a robe at her place so he just wrapped the green comforter from the bed around his frame before stepping out into the living room. Nick found Amanda sitting cross legged on the couch with what appeared to be a mug of tea in her hands, but there were no lights on so it was difficult for him to tell. Amanda wore flannel pajama pants and a faded t-shirt.

"Are you okay?" Nick asked as he sat down beside her.

"I guess."

"You guess?" What kind of answer was that? Nick hated when Amanda was vague.

"I was just thinking about Justine Miller."

Justine Miller - why was Nick not surprised? Eight days ago Justine Miller had been found in a cluster of bushes near Manhattan Bridge. Not only had she been sexually assaulted, she had also been stabbed several times in the torso. SVU had taken the case because of the sexual assault but they were now working the case with the Homicide Unit. Justine died from her injuries two days after her body was discovered. Justine Miller had been reported missing in August, a week after her sixteenth birthday. Her coke habit had lead her down dangerous paths that a girl of her age had no business being on. Eventually Justine started working the streets in order to get money to buy dust. When Amanda and her partner Fin had interviewed Justine's mother at the hospital, the woman had been genuinely upset over her daughter's assault. However she had _also _expressed contempt for the choices that her daughter had made.

"Those photos of Justine as a little girl reminded me a lot of Kim when she was that age. Did you know that Kim used to prostitute herself to support her habit? Even back in high school."

"Yea, I think you told me once, before we got together."

"She probably still does," Amanda said with a sigh. Nick disliked when Amanda started to dwell on her broken relationship with her younger sister. It just wasn't productive and it usually made Amanda feel depressed.

Nick took the mug out of Amanda's hands and set it on the coffee table in front of them. He let the tips of the ring and pinky fingers from his right hand rest on the back of Amanda's left hand.

"Amanda, Justine Miller is _not _your sister."

"I know that, it's just that when we talked to her mother, I felt as if no one was really ever in Justine's corner rooting for her. Kim feels that way too, ya know?"

This confused Nick. "What way?" he asked.

"Kim always thought that mom gave me more attention. She felt as if mom just gave up on her."

"I'm sure that's not true."

"It is though – mom _did_ give up on Kim after she screwed up one too many times."

Nick couldn't think of anything to say in response to that. He didn't know much about Amanda's family situation first hand. For all he knew Amanda was right. Nick had a young daughter and short of her committing murder, Nick couldn't imagine what Zara could do that would make him stop fighting for her. He couldn't really put himself in Amanda's mother's shoes.

"You know, Munch once told me about something he used to do in Baltimore to honor victims." This came from Nick.

Munch? They hadn't seen him since he put up Nick's bail money.

"Yea, what was that?" Amanda asked.

"Every night when Munch worked Homicide, he would light a candle to honor the victims who didn't have anyone to speak for them. For the longest time his squad mates didn't know that he was the one lighting the candle."

This made Amanda smile. "Yea?"

"Yea."

"Did he ever tell them that he was the person lighting the candle?" Amanda asked.

"If I remember correctly, he said that they eventually figured it out without asking."

"Munch may be paranoid but he has a heart of gold," Amanda said.

"Yea, he does," Nick concluded before changing the subject. "Even though you have a morning shift tomorrow, you could get another hour of sleep before you have to be at the precinct. I don't have to be there until one."

Amanda looked at Nick and managed a small smile for his benefit. She knew that he wouldn't fall back asleep if he was still worried about her. "That sounds like a good idea."

Nick pulled Amanda towards the bedroom gently as he stood up. "Come on."

* * *

><p>Nick woke up around ten. He had stirred briefly at eight when he had heard Amanda leave for work, but he had been too tired to get up and see her off. Now he sat in the kitchen drinking coffee and listening to the radio. When the weather report came on Nick turned the volume down because if he wanted to know what it was doing outside he could just look out the window. As Nick refilled his coffee cup his thoughts wandered to Amanda and their early morning conversation. He wished that there was something he could do to make her stop worrying so much. Nick also wished that Amanda and Kim could reconcile, but he knew that was as likely as a snow storm in July. Amanda was too beautiful a person to be weighed down by such heavy baggage. Hadn't she loved and saved his sorry ass at a time when he had deserved it the least?<p>

Nick finally walked towards the bathroom to get ready for the day but stopped when he noticed a few random pictures scattered on the coffee table. Amanda must have been looking at them last night - or maybe before she had left for work. Nick scooped up the pictures with his right hand. They were old photos of two little girls - Amanda and Kim – who else? Nick had never seen photos of Amanda as a kid before. Her face really hadn't changed that much. One of the pictures must have been at least 25 years old. The once colorful image was now a dull rust color. Amanda and Kim were sitting by a creek with huge smiles on their faces. They had their arms slung around each other too. Nick sighed and then placed the pictures back on the coffee table.

* * *

><p>Nick walked into the squad room at 1pm on the dot. After hanging up his coat he checked in with Olivia, who informed him that Amanda and Fin were out doing some follow up interviews for the Kara Lopez case. He didn't see Amanda for the rest of the day even though she had briefly stopped back into the office around six o'clock to give Olivia an update on the day's work. Nick had been taking his dinner break at the time. Amanda texted Nick around 6:15 to say that she would not be joining him for dinner after all as she was beginning to feel under the weather.<p>

After dinner Nick stopped at a nearby bodega to grab some lozenges. His throat was starting to feel a little scratchy and he really couldn't afford to get sick. He grabbed a pack of Halls and a bottle of DayQuil and then headed towards the cash register to wait in line. There were two people in front of him. As Nick waited his turn he took note of the Christmas candy and decorations that were on display near the front door._ It's not even Thanksgiving week yet – why all the Christmas stuff?" _he thought.

Now there was only one person in front of him. Amidst the Christmas paraphernalia there was a small display of cinnamon and apple scented votive candles – two packs of three for five dollars. At first Nick didn't give the candles much thought, but the longer he stared at them the more he wanted to buy a pack.

* * *

><p>Nick turned his computer off at 10:30 with an aim to head home. He was the only detective left in the office and he was starting to get tired. Olivia had left at 9 and Fin had clocked out at 8:30. Nick thought he heard the pitter patter of light rain falling outside. He looked up at the window from where he was standing and sure enough, it was raining. <em>Damn, I didn't bring an umbrella with me<em>, he said just loud enough for his own ears to hear. No matter – he knew that he would find a spare umbrella in the cloak room.

Nick put his coat on, buttoning it all the way up to his neck. He then reached for the plastic bodega bag and took out a pack of cinnamon scented votives. As he ripped off the cardboard packaging he looked around the room for a good spot to put them; his dark eyes stopped searching when they noticed the empty spot by the coffee maker. Of course – that was the perfect place! Nick walked over to the coffee maker and took a community mug off of the mug rack. He slid one of the votives in the mug – it was a perfect fit! Nick smiled as he set the votive next to the coffee maker. Maybe Nick couldn't solve Amanda's problems – hell, he couldn't solve his own problems – but he _could_ offer this small act of love and kindness to her. Nick lit the candle with a red BIC lighter that he had purchased at the bodega and then turned towards the elevator.

The scent of cinnamon wax lingered in the squad room throughout the night and even though it was just one small candle it burned ever so brightly for Justine – _and_ for Kim - and for _many_ other lost souls whose hope had been taken away _far_ too soon.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: What did you guys think? Yes? No?  
>I'm sure there are some typos as I zipped the ending off in a hurry.<strong>


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